♪ all new technology ups brings to me, that's logistics. ♪ hello, everyone. high noon here in the east. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." here are the first five stories on the web this hour. lottery dreams come true. the gop battle for wisconsin. a katy perry video controversy. another stranded cruise ship nightmare. and new conflict with iran. all those stories ahead this hour. but first, a big protest under way right now in sanford, florida, where crowds are gathered at the police station demanding justice for trayvon martin and the arrest of george zimmerman, the man who admittedly shot the florida teen. thousands hitting the streets carrying trayvon signs. ron allen is live there. let's get the latest. what's happening there?

>> reporter: alex, it's getting loud here. a huge crowd of people just walked through a neighborhood in sanford and they've just arrived here at the police department. you can see behind me perhaps and you can hear certainly it's a crowd in the hundreds, maybe 1,000 or more. i can't see all the way down the street. but they're still coming. leaders of this march are reverend jesse jackson, reverend al sharpton and other activists across the country who are here to press for the demand of the arrest of george zimmerman. a lot of families are here, a lot of children are here, a lot of young people are here. some students from the high school that trayvon martin attended in miami are here. they're trying to keep the momentum of this public demand, this public outrage for the arrest of george zimmerman. similarly tomorrow afternoon in miami -- of course this is happening while this case has become somewhat complicated and muddled. the family of george zimmerman is pushing back hard trying to tell his side of the story as well. it's important for the marchers, the protesters to try and keep

the momentum up. so we'll see how big the numbers are here today. there's also some concern in the town of sanford growing about these protests. merchants say it's bad for business and for the town's reputation. but for now, the people here, many of them residents of this town, are determined to keep up this demand, this pressure on the police for prosecutors to arrest jrm jrmz. >> and given the fact that this has been a topic that has dominated the national headlines, to what extent are there people from outside the sanford, florida tlshgs? >> reporter: it's hard to know the breakdown of the crowd. some people came in on buses from six, seven hours across from florida, all parts of the ree region. there are protests online and in other parts of the country. the numbers here, though, are big. it's growing. it's a large crowd. there hasn't been this big a demonstration in this town in a while now.

there is questioning whether the movement had a lot of momentum. that's one thing people are trying to establish today, this demonstration, this protest, this demand for justice still has a lot of momentum. >> nbc's ron allen, many thanks. a bit later, i'll speak with naacp president and ceo ben jealous about today's march and with bob herbert. we'll talk about where we are now with this story and how might this all end. only three days to go before tuesday's next round of republican primaries in wisconsin, maryland and washington, d.c. in wisconsin today, newt gingrich appeared at the faith and freedom presidential kickoff. and mitt romney and rick santorum will be there as well. ron mott is there with the latest. what's going on behind you? >> reporter: hey, there, alex. i've never covered a golf event but i'm going to have to do this report in a golf voice. you mentioned voters going to the polls on tuesday.

the biggest prize is here in wisconsin. all three of these candidates have been campaigning hard across the badger state. mitt romney has returned that air of confidence around his campaign. here's what governor romney had to say to this audience moments ago. >> life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and those rights and those associated with them, i believe, are what made america what we are. and today those rights are under attack by this administration which is one more reason we've got to replace this administration. >> reporter: now, there are three weeks between the three races we have on tuesday before we have elections again. five states going on april 24th. if mitt romney is able to hold on to win here in wisconsin, a poll shows him up by seven points over rick santorum. rick santorum for his part has

won 11 states during this campaign. but he has not won yet in the industrial heartland which is going to be really a part of the election this fall, the battleground, if you will, wisconsin, ohio, michigan. we'll have to see how well he does here on tuesday. he's campaigning hard as well. >> and the analysts believe wisconsin will be the best of those three states. thank you so much. we'll speak with you again. let's get to more politics. i'm joined by ann cornblute and erin mcpike. erin's the blonde. you guys have the exact same color blouse on. looks good. president obama spoke in maine yesterday during his fund-raising tour. we saw a bit of that 2008 passion coming back. let's listen to that. >> if you're willing to keep pushing with me and keep fighting with me, keep reaching for that vision that we believed in, then i promise you, we won't

just win another election but we will finish what we started in 2008 and this country will be better for it and we will remind the world just why it is that the united states of america is the greatest nation on earth. >> do you think he could inspire the same sort of energy that we saw in the democratic party four years ago, or does lightning never strike twice in politics? >> well, the conventional wisdom has been that it's going to be really hard for him to do it. obviously he's now a real flesh-and-blood president this time. some of his supporters have been disappointed. some of his donors haven't turned out in the way they hoped. but you see that level of excitement at a rally like that and you see how energized he is simply by being on the campaign trail as opposed to sitting in the rose garden giving another speech. you have to think he has the ingredients to get some of the hope and change spirit back.

in contrast, i have to say to some of the republican events you sau see, you don't always see the audience reaction to romney or santorum like that. >> the latest poll shows mitt romney expanding his lead in the primary. how much longer can we expect the other gop candidates to hang in there? is it enough to just say, we're going to go all the way to the convention? can they really do it? >> it depends on the money that they can raise. but at this point, it's become so clear that mitt romney is going to be the republican nominee. between mar owe rubio and jeb bush and paul ryan, when the real big names of the public party are starting to coalesce behind mitt romney, it's clear that the party is supposed to fall in line. so that really shuts down the money that can go to any of the other candidates, which means that they can't really do much campaigning. they can stay in. they can put out press releases and try to stay around in the media. but it doesn't mean they can

campaign a whole lot longer. >> ann, let's look at mitt romney's favorability rating. the latest is at 34%. but more importantly, 50% of americans give him an unfavorable rating. can he survive those numbers in the general election. >> those aren't good numbers. worse for romney in other numbers we've seen, the more people know about him, the more they're exposed to him, the less they like him. they have a lot of work to do on that front. we had a couple of stories this week about what he's trying to do to get people to like him a little bit more. i think they're going to try to get him to open up some more. >> how about you, erin? the same question, what can romney do to get the numbers up before november, assuming he's the nominee? he's not known as a charismatic campaigner. >> republicans say they want to hear more about his background.

and we want to know what he learned from his experience at bain capital. he tells us that he spent 25 years in the private sector. but he doesn't talk a lot about the experiences or what he learned from turning around businesses as a consultant that he can now apply to the federal government. the same thing is true of his experience in massachusetts. he just says he was governor of massachusetts but he doesn't tell us a lot about some of the things he did and what he can apply. i think we want to hear some more details from him so we can know what kind of president he would be. >> i'm going to ask the same question of both of you. there are now two schools of thought on what it would mean for the president if the health care law is struck one. one says it's going to galvanize the left against a conservative assault. and the other says it would be a disaster for the president's biggest accomplishment to see it fail. >> the first thing i would point out is it's very unlikely the entire law will be overturned. the more likely scenario is that the supreme court will deem

unconstitutional the mandate. you have to look at what the justices asked. i know there's a big warning this week about just because they're asking tough questions does not necessarily dictate what they will end up saying in june. but i think it's a more likely scenario that we can see just the mandate go. but in either case, it of course would be bad for the president because it is his signature -- one thing you'll start to hear republicans say, well, the president was a constitutional law professor, if his signature achievement is deemed unconstitutional, that would be a very bad thing. i think there is truth to that. >> ann, your thoughts? >> i think the answer is it would be both those things. i think it could potentially have short-term political gain for democrats, certainly people on the left and supporters of the law would be inclined to rally around the president. but i don't think that's mutually exclusive from saying it would be very bad for the president and very bad for his long-term substantive goals.

so i think if that happens -- i agree with erin. i think it could be that it's not the whole thing that's struck down. but if they strike down the heart of it and get rid of the mandate and toss into question what would happen with the rest of the law, i think it could be both good and bad for him. >> anne and erin, thanks so much. appreciate it. we are finding out more about the winners of last night's record mega millions lottery jackpot. >> it was sold at 7:15 last night. it was a quick pick and there was only one ticket purchased by the player. >> wow. that's from maryland where the lucky winner is still unknown. but there's more. lottery officials in kansas and illinois also report the sale of winning tickets. so that means the $640 million prize will be split into thirds at least. here are the winning numbers -- 2, 4, 23, 38, 46 and the mega ball is number 23. nbc's kristen welker is in

baltimore. one quick pick at the end of the whole thing, unbelievable. >> reporter: it's unbelievable, alex. it's difficult to imagine. and there's so much excitement here about it. check out the parking lot here. that's why all of these folks have been coming here throughout the day. we've seen a steady stream of people coming here. they want a look at this store. they're checking their tickets, taking pictures. we spoke with one woman who actually got four numbers right, so she walked away with $100 a not too bad. it's not that big mega millions jackpot. $640 million which wound up being a little closer to $656 million when it was all said and done. the lottery officials said the winner came into this store last night, bought one ticket, the computer picked the numbers. that's what i love about all of this. i just want to hold this ticket up -- this is not the winning

ticket, i wish it were but it's not. just to give you a sense of how incredible it is, you have to get all five numbers right as well as that sixth number, the mega ball number. the chances of winning are so incredibly slim and so incredible. you talked about the fact that there are three winners, one in baltimore county, maryland, one in illinois and one in kansas. if you split that three ways, each person winds up taking home about $307 million lump sum or $16 million if you want to get paid annually. i wish i had problems like these. i wish i could be facing a decision like that today. wouldn't that be nice? but on a serious note, lottery officials say that it is important that the winner seeks legal and financial advice. we have seen this play out so many times where people win the lottery and they don't invest it wisely. it's important whoever that winner is out there and we hope we get to meet the person, that that person does get some advice about how to move forward.

>> in the big picture, i hope that person does not come forward. it's usually a better thing to just stay quiet. but then again, we're in the media and we want to see. thank you so much. there are plenty of would have, should have, could have footnotes. one viewer tweeted this -- this shows a mega millions ticket with the numbers 2, 4, 7, 11, 22 and 23. at least you get a few bucks. we've been asking you all day, what would you do with half a billion dollars? here are some of your tweets. if i won half a billion dollars, i would pay my grandparents' hospital bills and get my grandfather the horse barn he wants. another tweet says pay off all my student loans and for my children. another tweet, i would pay back everyone i've ever borrowed money from. then i would go buy a lottery ticket. another tweet, anything i want, quit my job, take a long trip to

every place i've dreamed of seeing. buy a home and help my family and friends. all great tweets. keep talking to me. i'll be reading more of them a bit later on in the show. right now, thousands are marching to the sanford police department. so where are we now and how is this going to end? we'll talk about it next here on "weekends with alex witt." [ artis brown ] america is facing some tough challenges right now. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy.

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developing right now, a rally for trayvon martin right now under way in sanford, florida, as we give you a live look at things there, where thousands have gathered at the sanford police department. they are calling for the arrest of martin's admitted killer, george zimmerman. earlier, the naacp led that march through the streets.

meanwhile this week, other big developments in the case, george zimmerman's brother spoke publicly defending his brother. we saw new security camera video of zimmerman on the night of the shooting. and msnbc has learned details of the arrest of zimmerman back in 2005. and the city is looking for on interim chief. bob herbert is joining me now. thanks for being here. we talked about this last week. we've had all these latest developments now. can you give us after this week of progress f there's been progress, where we stand in the case? >> the real problem is that it's taking so long. so the longer the investigation drags out, the more difficult it would be to get a conviction if indeed zimmerman did anything that was criminal. it just makes it more difficult. >> bob, do you think there's a problem from the outside at any level because of the bungling of the case from the beginning by police, the lack of evidence -- >> exactly. it's a problem from jump street.

i think it would be very difficult to sustain a murder charge, no matter what really happened in that incident. the other thing that's propp problematic is the longer this goes on, the more the trial gets tried in the court of public opinion. we saw what happened after the o.j. simpson verdict and what happened with the riots in l.a. so you just don't want that to happen. that's mitigated if you have an investigation that the public has confidence in. that's not what we have right now. >> is there any way to avoid this seeming sort of churning of the legal process right now that it goes on and on and on before we get some sort of an answer? >> i don't think there is. i don't think you can speed it up. the justice department is looking at the case but that's a long procedure. if the federal government were to intervene, it would be essentially a civil rights case.

but this is the kind of case that's supposed to be handled at the state level, you know? it's a suspected homicide case. but so far what we're ending up with are demonstrations. and it's becoming the latest fad on the internet. >> we've heard a lot of people try to put this entire situation into context via race. tell me where we stand now on that? >> i think that it's clearly a racial situation. zimmerman, we hear on the 911 tape that is he said when he first talked about spotting trayvon, he said, he's got his hand in his waistband and he's a black male. so he was just focused on the fact that he was black from jump street. then we have the enhanced tapes that seem to suggest that he had made an awful racial slur. so i don't think there's any question that it's a racial case. what is unfortunate is what happens so often in these cases

is that the public's approach to the case begins to break down largely along racial lines. you don't like to see that happen. >> although if you look at the crowd, it's clear there are representatives from every walk of life -- >> you have an awful lot of whites who are outraged about this case. no question about that. but if, for example, you go on to the internet and you start looking at some of the reactions to the posts on the various blogs and the news reports, then you see a very ugly scene. and a lot of racism -- in addition to that, there's been a fair amount of racism coming from blacks, attacks on zimmerman that i think are beyond the pale. what you want is an investigation by the authorities that you can have confidence in and then have it move at a reasonably swift pace. >> how about today? marches and rallies for justice which is part of the official name of this?

do you think these kinds of events can help quell the dissent, quell the difficulties or does it incite as well? >> no, i think the marches are helpful as long as the marches remain peaceful, which they have been -- >> except for one with walgreens -- >> right. but they do become attention. attention becomes focused on the case. if there hadn't been the public outcry, we probably would have gotten this far in the investigations. what you don't want is for the marches and the demonstrations to spiral into some kind of vigilante protest. we're not interested in that. the marches should be a cry for justice in this case. >> but getting back to the question of the churning of the legal process, the wheels of justice move slowly is the phrase. how much do you worry about vigilante justice? >> i do worry about it. there have been, as you point out, a couple of instances. once again f you look on the internet, there have been some

things posted that i think have been outrageous, which you don't want to see. so you have to be careful about that. and i think the organizers of the marches, the demonstrations, the protests, they have an obligation to try and prevent that sort of thing from spiraling out of control. >> bob herbert, thanks so much. >> great to see you, alex. supreme court justice anthony kennedy could be the deciding vote in the health care reform case. we'll hear from a former clerk who knows his thinking a bit later here on "weekends with alex witt." battle speech right? may i? capital one is issuing a venture double miles challenge. show us how much you spent last year and we'll give you 2 miles for every dollar spent on your travel reward card. up to 100,000 miles! hawaii, here we come. claim your miles at capitalone.com today! what's in your wallet? can you play games on that? not on the runway. no.

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the car's been tested more than 200,000 miles without a safety problem. our returning servicemen are often referred to as our heroes. but when they go looking for jobs, that's not always the feeling they get. the unemployment rate for veterans since 9/11 is well above the national average despite the fact 80% return with transferrable skills. nbc's richard lui has more. >> reporter: the aircraft carrier "intrepid" reminds him -- >> i hear a helicopter coming. >> reporter: that was four years ago with the 82nd airborne in iraq. now james cunningham is a successful director of social media. facebook friends up 20-fold. twitter followers from zero to 1,000. was it easy for this veteran? not at first. >> you come home and you think you haven't changed and you realize that you have. >> reporter: the 25-year-old realized he may have had posttraumatic stress when he yelled at his commanding officer

one day. >> the hardest thing was admitting it and trying to seek treatment for it and get better. >> reporter: over 200,000 veterans like james also face another challenge. >> there has been reports of posttraumatic stress or traumatic brain injury or other injuries that employers may be concerned about. >> reporter: 46% of all employers worry about veterans have been posttraumatic stress or pts when hiring. >> to paint all our military service members in one broad stroke and to say, all of you are this way, nothing can be further from the truth. >> reporter: 80% of veterans or more do not have pts, says the v.a. those who do often recover. james' program included friends at body building and at home. >> i officially graduated from the university of utah in december with two degrees in

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strategy talk now where health care reform is in the high court and it's in focus. in any other year, a supreme court on president obama's top accomplishment would be news. but this is an election year. it's the republican party's largest target. joining me you, ed rendell and

r ramesche pineiro. since the health care law was passed, if it's delivered via a conservative leaning, does that have any political thorns? any scenario where this is, be careful what you pish for? >> i really do think that it is mostly ups for the republicans. in part, i think it's got to be incredibly demoralizing for the left to have lost the u.s. house over this unpopular health care law and then not even get the health care law. again, that's on the theory that the court actually does strike it down. >> okay. governor rendell, let's talk about the key issue for the case. it's this kei mandate which president obama was actually against during the 2008 campaigning -- >> sure, i remember. >> take a look at this from american crossroads, a political

action committee against the president. listen to this. >> it's a plan that asks everyone to take responsibility for meeting this challenge, everybody, including employers and individuals. if a mandate was a solution, we could try that to solve homelessness by mandating everybody buy a house. >> first of all s this an effective attack ad? and secondly, was including the mandate in the overall health care act a tactical error by democrats? there would not be an easy constitutional case be made right now if it wasn't there. >> two things. it's not a very effective attack ad because it confuses things. right now, you want president obama identified with the mandate, promandate because the mandate is unpopular. showing him speaking out against the mandate, if i'm a voter, i'm saying, what's going on? he wasn't for the mandate? so i think that's crazy.

that's number one. number two, is there a chance that the bill can be saved without the mandate in it and why was the mandate in it in the first place? the mandate was in it because of the insurance companies. the insurance companies convinced the obama administration that there's no way that they could afford to insure people with previous existing illnesses or pay for the entire treatment no matter how much money it costs in a given year, there was no way they could do that unless everyone, including healthy people, were forced to buy health insurance. and the obama administration was convinced that they were right. now, i've heard governor dean on your program this morning saying the mandate -- that isn't necessary, to protect the economy sanctity of health insurance programs. but that was the issue. and that was the issue that pretty much convinced president obama that he had to put the mandate in. look, are there other ways to do

health insurance and spread access to all americans? yes, there are. but let's be clear, if we don't mandate everyone to be in the program, the taxpayers are going to pay more to make universal health care a reality. there's no ifs, ands and buts about it. single payer is what most countries in the world have. and we're against it. the business interests in this country are against it although businesses now are starting to warm up to single payer because they're out of the health care -- providing health care business. and it goes off their bottom line. so the big problem for the republicans is, okay, the health care act's been thrown out, what would you do? what would you do? and the second problem is i disagree slightly with ramesh, i think it's going to energize our

base. our base is going to be frightened to death and having a republican supreme court for the next four or eight years. >> just from a political perspective, if just the individual mandate is repealed, is that a victory for the gop? >> if it's just the individual mandate, well, of course then you've got a problem in health care markets as governor rendell was alluding to. and it gets thrown back into congress and it becomes a question of each parties' agendas. and republicans are going to say, look, the individual mandate is extremely unpopular, i don't think you're going to have this huge backlash against the court because the individual mandate is unpopular, because most people want the supreme court in polls to strike it down because even people like governor rendell are clearly ambivalent and president obama himself about the mandate, it's not going to be something that is going to be able to rally the left wing troops on. >> how about this, governor?

i'll let you respond to what ramesh was saying about you being ambivalent. but the law, can this survive and remain effective if just the mandate is struck down? what is left around that or is that the epicenter and without it, there's not much? >> it's not the epicenter. in terms of what we the citizens will get from the health care bill, it's absolutely doable without the mandate. the question is, can health insurance companies continue to operate without a mandate forcing healthy people into the plan offering the things that the bill requires them to do? >> that's the big question, alex. i don't know the answer. but if the mandate is struck down and the bill is left intact -- by the way, i think ramesh's analysis is correct. that won't fire up our base so much and it will be a victory for the republicans. but if the mandate is out and everything else is intact, they have to find a way to amend the bill for the government to pay more and find additional revenues or some way to do

stop/loss. stop/loss was john kerry's idea, where the government picks up 75% of all the cost of catastrophic care above, say, $50,000 a year. maybe that would make the insurance companies profitable again, even though they'd have to take people with pre-existing conditions. something like that. >> it looks like we're going to be speculating on this till june. goodness knows we won't likely hear anything about it week this. >> for sure. >> gentlemen, thank you so much. president obama says world oil supplies are large enough to increase the pressure on iran. the sanctions will begin june 28th. the u.s. and its allies believe that iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb, which iran denies. relief for the 1,000 passengers on board a stranded cruise ship. a fire in the engine room disabled the cruise ship just south of the philippines.

five crew members suffered smoke inhalation. the ship has been repaired. the new documentary "bully" came out in limited release amid controversy over its rating. here's a clip. >> i opened my locker, there was a note that says, [ bleep ], you aren't welcomed here. the teacher was calling roll and said, boys, and then girls and paused as said kelby. and another teacher told me how they burned [ bleep ] and kept talking about it with me in the classroom. senior editor qur if the in touch weekly" kim serafin is here with us. pretty heavy lifting with the topic here. "the l.a. time" says it will be recut for a pg-13 rating.

is this must see or must avoid? >> definitely must see. and it's so heartbreaking. you just showed that clip. but this is what this movie is about. this is what every teenager should see and every family should see. it chronicles teenagers and their families and shows the effect that is bullying and harassment has on them. anyone who sees this will relate to it, either if it's a kid, if they remember from your experiencing at school or having this happen to them. it's something everyone needs to see. it's heartbreaking but also educational. the "r" rating was given because of the language. so it's something that most kids have probably heard f. you're worried about your child hearing it, it's something they've probably heard on your school bus every day. >> and the mpaa is very strict that they count the numbers and they usually don't deviate from that. but for fans of greek mythology "wrath of the titans" is in theaters. what's the verdict on this one? >> it got mixed reviews.

if you liked "clash of the titans," the remake of that film that came out in 2010, you might like this one. didn't get great reviews about the story line or about the dialogue. but if you like big action sequences, then you would like this one. and it might even look a little bit better than "clash of the titans" because even though they shot it in 2-d and converted it to 3-d, it's converted a little bit better so that 3-d is a little bit better than "clash of the titans." and it has great starpower. >> lastly, "mirror, mirror," what did you think? >> this is definitely a must see. especially for family and kids. this is the retelling of the snow white story in a slapstick comedy type of way. julia roberts is great as the evil queen in this. this is the family movie to go see. there's another movie coming out in june that's a little bit darker. but this is the happy comedic version. go see it if you have a family. >> will do.

thank you, kim. in today's number ones, only three weeks to go. have you done your taxes? if not, you're not alone. moving up from six to first on this year's list, san francisco, 40% of filers get moving within two weeks of the deadline. new york ranks second followed by los angeles with seattle in number five. washington, d.c. tops all major metros in the index for 2011. memphis comes in second, salt lake city, third. when it comes to wealth, a new survey says new york city is the second. they get high marks for economic activity and foreign influence. but the number one city is london. plenty of americas are tired of snooki. but she only comes in third on

the list of most overexposed celebrities. her antics pail to lindsay lohan's. who's number one? kim kardashian. and no real surprise her thanks to the record success of "the hunger games" movie, the soundtrack debuts at the top of the album list. and those are your number ones here on "weekends with alex witt." spring only shows up once a year. what are we going to do about it? here's to more saturdays in the sun, and budgets better spent. here's to black friday prices that turn more shoppers into savers. to picking up. trading up. mixing it up. to well-earned muddy boots. and a lot more-spring per dollar. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. black friday is back.

now through wednesday save on these top brand project starters, just $8 each.

two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. demonstrators and activists are gathering in sanford, florida, right now demanding justice for trayvon martin. in fact, a large crowd is rallying outside the police department there as we give you a look at that. the hope is to keep pressure on the local officials. among the organizers of today's event is naacp president and ceo ben jealous. ben joins me live from sanford.

ben, thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> so the overall message of this rally, it is what? >> it is that it's time to finally bring mr. zimmerman to justice. it's time for the wheels of justice here to really get traction and start rolling quickly. it's been 34 days. and folks here are tired of waiting. it's time for mr. zimmerman to be brought to justice. >> ben, have you been contacted by sanford police officials to explain their reasoning for not getting george zimmerman with an arrest inside that police station thus far? >> no. and it's very disturbing because the reality is that we'll never be able to go back to that day and gather crime scene photos that weren't gathered, gather evidence at the scene that wasn't gathered, gather evidence from mr. zimmerman that wasn't gathered on that day. and that's part of why folks here are so impatient and say,

look, it is time to just bring him in and get him processed. one of the things that someone said here when we were at a church meeting, they were talking about a specific case that happened about two years ago, in which a man walking down the street was attacked by a dog and shot it and they threw that man in jail the next day. they say if you kill a dog in this town, you'll be locked up the next day. here we are 34 days later, this beautiful young boy is dead and no one's been brought to jail to even start the basic process. >> ben, what can be done immediately? i spoke earlier with bob herbert. and we were talking about the wheels of justice churning very, very slowly in this case. i know the police department is looking for a new police chief. they've organized through an outside independent firm. it's not as if they're going through members of their own police department. they're looking elsewhere for a police chief. what else can be done immediately to help get to the point that you're trying to make, that you want justice -- something for trayvon?

>> we need all the evidence to be gathered. it's good to see the changing of the state's attorney. them really beginning a true investigation. this department didn't do their job on day one. it's important when you listen to people in this community, the folks actually go deeper and look at this department. young black men in this town have been attacked and killed and the police have not responded in the way that you would expect people who are paid to respect and protect all of us should respond. >> yeah. ben, i'm going to ask another question but want to let you know that a man who needs no introduction, reverend al sharpton, a colleague of mine here on msnbc and one of our hosts. very quickly, ben, is this, do you believe, a case of lone

racial injus or is there a bigger problem here? sanford, florida? >> both. both. and the reality here -- this isn't about whether mr. zimmerman is a racist, we have no idea. but it's about young black men being profiled, by white cops, by black cops, by people in the neighborhood watch program, by private security agencies in this town. the reality is that young black men have been treated different for centuries in our society. it's time for us as a society to move beyond racial profiling, to start focusing on what people do, not what they look like. we can do it. we have done it in some places in this nation. it's time for us to do it throughout this nation. it's just been too long, too many young men been humiliated, mistreated and even killed because their very color is considered suspicious. >> naacp president and ceo, ben jealous. thank you very much for your time. we're going to turn up the

volume here on the reverend al for a moment. i know the picture is dipping in and out. there it is. let's listen to what he has to say there in florida. >> those that are interfering with the parents -- >> wouldn't you know it? we're going to take a break. there must be some storms or something interfering with the satellite signal. we are going to get back to that when we can. in the meantime, the best of office politics, john heilman talks about his biggest challenge in covering the elections. apple products are everywhere. but what separates the people who own them from the people who don't? "weekends with alex witt" continues. what do you smell? light floral, lilac. wispy white curtains. [ experimenter 1 ] okay take your blindfolds off. ♪ hello? [ male announcer ] febreze fabric refresher. breathe happy, guaranteed. [ male announcer ] febreze fabric refresher. and on small business saturday bothey remind a nations of the benefits of shopping small.

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might it all come down to the man you are about to see? supreme court justice anthony kennedy. we know that this is a very, very close vote at best. and we're going to be speaking coming up in our next hour with a man who clerked for him. we'll ask him to get inside the head of the supreme court justice and see where he may be

leaning in the vote on health care. we'll be right back here on "weekends with alex witt." [ male announcer ] can febreze set & refresh make even this place smell fresh? [ facilitator ] what do you smell? takes me outdoors. sort of a crisp, fresh feeling. [ facilitator ] go ahead and take your blindfold off. [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] the febreze set & refresh. breathe happy for 30 days, guaranteed.

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it is the top of the hour here at msnbc. there you are seeing the reverend al sharpton. he's down there leading a rally at the end of a march in sanford, florida, all people calling for justice for trayvon. let's listen to the reverend al sharpton. >> i've come to stand with our brothers and the naacp, brother clayton, brother jealous and our chairlady and all the others as they have stood with us. we go to each other's rally because it's all one rally, because all of us want one thing -- the immediate arrest of zimmerman and the police chief, to don't step aside for a

moment, keep on going. and we want a just trial for this family. when attorney crump called me and i first talked to the family, i don't go nowhere unless they asked us to. i don't care who don't like it. you didn't ask us to come. i'm going to be here as long as those that invited us tell us they need us here. i am not no boy. i don't need your permission to fight. you're used to talking to little boy that is run when you lift your voice and when you start shouting at them. when you talk to me, take the bass out of your voice. you're talking to a grown man. you kill a little boy and we're

going to fight for justice. we're going to fight with our pride and our dignity. we won't back down. we're not scratching where we don't itch. we're not laughing at what's not funny. we're not selling out. we're not bowing out. we're not backing down. there will be justice for trayvon martin. thank you and god bless you! >> and there you've heard it, a very impassioned reverend al sharpton. he's been leading much of the public outcry in terms of getting justice for trayvon. let's go now to nbc's ron allen, a man also there covering the story from the beginning. he's outside that police department where hundreds if not thousands have gathered. the latest on the ground there, ron, give me a sense of the tenor of that march. was it peaceful? was it angry? was it both before they got to that police department? >> reporter: it's very peaceful.

there are a lot of families here, a lot of kids, a lot of young people, teenagers are here. it's a very peaceful gathering. there's been no hint of violence, no hint of trouble. everybody is conducting themselves in a very dignified way. and the number of speakers at the podium there have urged people to do that as well. you also heard reverend sharpton addressing the criticism of these continuing rallies. he says and others that the martin family, trayvon martin's parents, asked them to be here and as long as they continue asking them to be here, they will be here. and there are signs that this could escalate or step up in some ways -- there's talk of civil disobedience, sit-ins, pray-ins outside the police department and other places around the city. there's talk of trying to target some of the corporations that fund and support group that is back the "stand your ground" law here in florida and elsewhere. so the activism may take on different tactics in the days and weeks to come. remember, the grand jury here doesn't take their seats until april 10th.

that's fairly soon. but that could take a while. and the challenge for these protesters here and across the country and around the world, for that matter, is can they keep up the momentum k they keep bringing people out in the streets and doing things to keep the pressure on? it appears this is going to go on for a while. i don't think anybody here expects the state prosecutor to walk out monday morning with an arrest warrant. it's going to be a while. people are digging in and preparing for the long run. >> ron allen, thanks for that live report. wisconsin is holding its presidential primary in three days. today, mitt romney is at the faith and freedom presidential kickoff in that state. newt gingrich and rick santorum are there as well as is nbc's ron mott who's there in wisconsin with an update for us. last hour you told us you were a golf commentator since you were in the middle of mitt romney's speech. now you can speak up a bit. >> reporter: i can. they've just wrapped up this coalition forum this afternoon. rick santorum was the last of

the candidates to speak here. one of the things he's continuing to hammer across the country to republican voters is a vote for mitt romney is essentially a vote for the president's health care plan because the governor when he was in massachusetts structured a plan very similar to the one that president obama passed into law. so he is saying why vote for him and then have republicans lose the election come november? rick santorum has yet to win in the industrial heartland. so this is a big race for him on tuesday. if he does not win it here, a lot of folks may begin to ask for him to go ahead and put the brakes on his campaign. earlier mitt romney talked about going after the president on a number of fronts. he yesterday kicked off what was really a general election speech, one of his most powerful power speeches. he did not even mention his republican competitors. he's gooing going right after president obama. it seems that air of inevitability has turned around the romney campaign. our poll has him up seven points here in wisconsin.

rick santorum is down in the polls here. he is trying to finish up strongly here. both candidates are out today. they will both be back here in this very room tonight speaking to another group, a reagan dinner. a big crowd. let's take a listen to something that mitt romney had to say a little earlier at this speech. >> life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and those rights and those associated with them, i believe, are what made america what we are. and today those rights are under attack by this administration which is one more reason we've got to replace this administration. >> reporter: now, a lot of the voters here and a lot of the speakers here today talked about coalescing around candidates. mitt romney, again with the lead here f he picks up d.c. and maryland and wisconsin on tuesday, again, you may see a lot of folks saying, this is our candidate, let's get behind him before it's too late. >> ron mott, thanks for that update. joining me now for more from the campaign trail, felicia

santes. thanks for being here. let's take a listen to this -- >> if governor romney does get to 1,144, i'll be glad to help him defeat barack obama. but if he doesn't get to 1,144, you'll see a very different party discussion from that point on. >> okay, now let's listen to what his primary backer sheldon adelson had to say on thursday. >> i'm in favor of newt gingrich because i like people who make decisions. he's a decision maker. it appears he's at the end of his line. mathematically he can't get anywhere near the numbers and there's not likely to be a brokered convention. >> so do you think that newt gingrich is at the end of the line because it seems that sheldon adelson, the indication there is he's not going to keep funding his super pac money? >> absolutely. i think the one thing that

matters more than anyone else's opinion here when it comes to newt gingrich is sheldon adelson and what he decides to do. newt gingrich is pivoting saying he's not going to be trying to compete in these upcoming primary states and he's going to try an inside strategy among the committee delegates in order to persuade them not to back mitt romney. but that's a game that newt gingrich is already at a disadvantage at. he lacks message discipline. he lacks the number of delegates to forcefully make that case. as we've seen the next month up ahead with these five contests in northeastern states, that's already going to be a bad ground for rick santorum in the case. it's etch worse for newt gingrich. right now, things have gone from bad to worse for him. when you saw rick santorum win in mississippi and alabama a couple of weeks ago, at that point there were still calls for him to say, what would you like newt gingrich to do in the race? now you're not hearing newt gingrich being mentioned as part of the conversation. i think that's a sign that the writing is on the wall.

>> listening to newt gingrich himself say that if romney's able to get and secure the numb of delegates needed, he will work with him towards winning the election. how would that work? do you think that any of these candidates can work together, given the contentious nature of this primary season? >> that's a great question. the campaigns are saying they are constantly in touch and constantly on the phone with each other. there are some conversations going on there. but gingrich is becoming increasingly relevant in the primary. it's hard to see what kind of role he could play for mitt romney going forward as he's well on his way to securing the nomination. i think it's more a matter of newt gingrich and what this would mean for his legacy. he does not want to be seen as a sore loser in this race. so his support for mitt romney would be more of a factor of a good thing when it comes to newt gingrich and what people look at him as. if you've seen him at events over the past week, he's been reduced essentially to sparring with college students on the campus of georgetown university here.

he got into a contentious back and forth with a couple of students there. if that's how he wants to be seen in the race, that's probably not how he wants to be seen. >> can i get your read on paul ryan who's campaigning with mitt romney in wisconsin, how effective is his endorsement of the mitt romney campaign? >> i think it's interesting because over this past week you've seen mitt romney hasn't actually increased his lead in the delegate race since louisiana voted last saturday. what has happened is there's been a far greater sense of inevitability because of people like paul ryan and george h.w. bush and marco rubio who have come out to endorse him. paul ryan is a rising star in the party. that together is the latest sign that romney is really winning over people in the party who are saying on capitol hill and elsewhere that they are ready for this race to go on. >> felicia, many thanks.

to keep up on all the political headlines, go to msnbc.com's first read, your top online destination for political news, analysis and opinion. in his media address today, president obama talked about the buffett rule proposal to raise taxes on millionaires. >> members of congress will get a chance to show you where they stand. congress is going to vote on what's called the buffett rule. if you make more than $1 million a year, you should pay at least the same percentage of your income in taxes as middle class families do. >> the president said if you make under $250,000 a year, your taxes would not go up. excitement today for the three winning tickets in last night's mega millions lottery. so far officials in kansas, illinois, maryland, all confirm that a winning ticket was sold in their state. the winners are going to share a record $640 million jackpot. in maryland, the lottery commissioner said it wasn't somebody playing lucky numbers. listen up -- >> it was sold at 7:15 last

night. it was a quick pick and there was only one ticket purchased by the player. >> quick pick, unbelievable. lottery officials say if you have the ticket, you have to sign it and put it somewhere safe and fast. in case you haven't checked the winning numbers, they are 2, 4, 23, 38, 46 and the mega ball is number 23. the highest court in the land has voted on the health care reform case. but can the supreme court justices change their minds? that's next on "weekends with alex witt." ♪ beth! hi! looking good. you've lost some weight. thanks. you noticed. these clothes are too big, so i'm donating them. how'd you do it? eating right -- whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multi-grain cheerios -- 5 whole grains, 110 calories.

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we won't know the fate of

president obama's health care reform overhaul until the supreme court announces its decision in june. but it could come down to justice anthony kennedy. he is the swing vote on the conservative bench. steven engel is joining me, a partner now at deckert, llp. thanks for being here. how important do you think justice kennedy's role will be as the swing vote in this case? are we certain where the rest of the justices stand? >> thanks, alex. the math is simple. there are nine justices. if you look at the jurisprudence, it looks like they're going to vote to uphold the law. they're you're looking for an additional vote. and justice kennedy is the most natural target for folks to focus on. that said, it's certainly

possible there could be other justices to uphold the law. you want to overread the oral argument because all the justices are doing is just asking questions. we don't for sure what they think until the opinions come down. >> taking all that in consideration, i want you to go back in your time when you were clerking for him, give me your thought based on where you saw him vote during that time. we're not holding you to it. just if you could give us an insightful look at that. >> sure, well, look, what we know is justice kennedy takes very seriously the constitutional limits of federalism. what that means is we have the federal government which has defined and limited powers. and the federal government doesn't do everything. the federal government has broad power where it can act. one of those places is in regulating the national economy. but at oral argument, justice kennedy asked hard questions about the government's opinion. the government is seeking to compel people to purchase health insurance.

governments never compel people who are not in a market to enter that market. and justice kennedy correctly recognized that the government has a very high burden. i think he's certainly thinking very seriously about whether this ak goes beyond the constitutional limitations. at the same time, he asked hard questions of the other side. >> so then let me see if i can put it to you this way, when you look at him and listen to his questions, is he inclined to tip his hand in doing so -- many would say it would go down 5 to 4 against, including the individual mandate. >> yeah, i think it is -- i want to know where justice kennedy is, just like everybody else. so i can't say that i know the answer or i have a guess. i do think he's giving the law serious consideration and he seemed to have serious questions about the law. so the challengers had a good week at oral argument this week.

i think there's a serious question about whether the court will strike down the individual mandate. but we won't know until june, unfortunately. >> we've been talking about him. let's listen to him in his own words. here's a clip of justice kennedy discussing the individual mandate this week. here it is. >> here the government is saying that the federal government has a duty to tell the individual citizen that it must act, and that is different from what we have in previous cases. that changes the relationship of the federal government to the individual in a very fundamental way. do you not have a heavy burden of justification to show authorization under the constitution? >> steven, is that clearly indicating to you at least while asking that question and perhaps not then going and playing devil's advocate to the other side with another question, does that -- is it clear to you what he thinks when asking that question? >> yeah, i think it shows that he has very serious questions.

he believes -- and this is the challengers' argument -- he believes that the government is going beyond -- the federal government is asserting the power to push people into commerce who are not otherwise into that commerce. and he thinks that that's a very serious concern. he asked questions of the other side, too. so i wouldn't overread one question. but it definitely shows he believes the government has the burden of justification here. >> steven engel, thank you for sitting on the hot seat. i was pushing you pretty hard. you came back. very well done. thank you very much. >> no problem, alex. i look forward to june. straight ahead, seems like apple products are everywhere. what separates apple owners from non-apple owners? that's coming u next.

spring only shows up once a year. what are we going to do about it? here's to more saturdays in the sun, and budgets better spent. here's to black friday prices that turn more shoppers into savers. to picking up. trading up. mixing it up. to well-earned muddy boots. and a lot more-spring per dollar. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. black friday is back. now through wednesday save on these top brand project starters, just $8 each.

according to a new survey, the numbers are stagger, more than 55 million homes own at least one iphone, ipad, ipod or a mac computer. regina lewis joins us with a look at the apple phenomenon, which is truly what it is. good day to you. thanks for coming back. how popular is apple? could you put it in context for us? >> sure. it's half of all households. what's most interesting about that sentence is at least one apple product. it turns out, alex, we don't stop with one. the more we buy, the more we want. on average f you've got an apple product in your household, you've got three of them. that's one of the reasons that launches like icloud which helps you sync up your devices or itunes where you can get songs on all of them are so critical

to the company because, of course, once you do that, you're really invested, you're really married to that apple lineup. >> so when you hear stats like one-quarter of all households plan on adding a device this year, doesn't surprise you? >> you know, i think it is pretty interesting. when you look at the factor that is skew that, it has more to do with whether you have kids in the household and whether you make $75,000 or more. that seems to tip the scales. age is not as much of a factor, nor is where you live, although the west coast has a little bit of a silicon valley slant to it. so they do seem to have total ubiquity. opening apple stores inside targets will be important to reach a different demographic. but real technology aficionados will remind us that sony had comparable numbers when you looked at boom boxes, walkmans and televisions. >> if it's not age necessarily nor income that's separating

these wedge demographics, is it just that apple is easier for consumers to use? has that been your experience? is that your assessment of it? >> i think it has a certain cachet. the fact that age is not a factor until you get over 50, it makes people feel more modern. they've revolutionized customer service. they have the genius bar, they have the classes when you buy a mac computer. and like anything, the more you use it, the more you get out of it. it's contagious. if you have one child who has an iphone and you start using a shared family calendar, it's easier if you're all using it. to have one apple device is to have two, three and four and five. the pushback is we're all becoming i-sheep. it's a herd mentality and we'll do anything that apple says.

there may be some manipulation here. things like the fact that they have proprietary screws. you can't change the batteries on an apple product yourself. we're at the mercy of their cycle. they're dictating that. if an ipod only lasts two years, it only lasts two years before you're up for a new one. >> all good points you're making. regina lewis, many thanks for joining us. with $640 million in that mega millions jackpot, you could buy yourself almost 1.3 million ipads. but the winners of last night's draw rgs going to have to settle for less. that's next. ♪ [ female announcer ] introducing new nature valley protein bars. 100% natural ingredients like roasted peanuts...

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we're finding out more about the winners of last night's record mega millions lottery jackpot. the lottery officials in kansas and illinois also reporting the sale of winning tickets meaning the $640 million prize will be split into thirds at least. here are the winning numbers -- 2, 4, 23, 38, 48 and the mega

ball is number 23. nbc's kristen welker is at the baltimore county story where that maryland winning ticket was sold. a lot of people were there earlier lining up to get a look at the machine. >> reporter: that's right, alex. they just wanted to get a look at the machine, checking their own tickets as well to see if they won any money. we talked to one woman who won $100. people are taking pictures. it's been really busy here all day long. i was just inside talking to some folks and said, what do you think about this? they really all said the same thing -- they said we can't believe that this has happened in our back yard. so there's really a collective sense of excitement here at this baltimore county community. we've been talking to folks. they're also just amazed by the story. the winner came in last night, 7:15 p.m., bought just one ticket, got the computer to pick the numbers and that wound up being the winning ticket. so it really makes it seem that

much more improbable. and that much more incredible. alex, i have a ticket here, unfortunately it's not the winning ticket. but i just wanted to show you -- >> which is why you're working, by the way. >> reporter: exactly. i would taking today off if i won, alex. no, i wouldn't. but in order to win, you have to get all five numbers right as well as that sixth mega ball number. it's really incredible. as you know, there are three winners. one here in maryland, one in kansas and one in illinois. so they'll be splitting up that huge jackpot, window up being about $656 million when it was all said and done. each person will take home about $105 million if they get a lump sum or if they get paid annually, it will be about $5 million. really tough decision for a saturday afternoon, don't you think, alex? >> yeah, really tough. >> reporter: i know. everyone's sort of a winner in this community because guess what, this store gets $100,000

for selling the winning ticket. so the folks who work here are saying that it's a great day for them as well. by the way, the next drawing will be on tuesday, $12 million. not quite as much. but i'd take $12 million. what about you? >> i totally would. but by comparison, it's like, really? chump change. >> reporter: i know. >> kristen welker, thank you. the most exclusive table in washington was in the conference room adjacent to supreme court chief justice john roberts' office. that's where the justices cast their initial votes on the health care reform law yesterday. after three days of arguments, the outcome will not be disclosed until june. that's not stopped speculation on how the high court voted and what it will mean for one of the largest government overhauls in u.s. history. joining me now is mike sachs from account the huffington post" and kenji yoshima.

mike, walk us through the process of yesterday's initial vote and what leads up into the final ruling in june? >> the justices vote by seniority. they sit around a raectangular table at one end and justice scale skal calia at the other e. by the third vote, we could -- they would know how the result was going to come out. that's a pretty big deal. >> yeah, that's a very big deal. of course, that's the $64 million question right now. >> exactly. >> kenji, the central issue is this individual mandate for all americans to have insurance. i'm curious what your read is as we listen to these justices and we were able to hear the audio tapes. did you get an indication of where the breakdown lies? >> yes, i think there are to

justices in play. we knew that justice clarence thomas was rabidly against this. the two justices in place are chief justice roberts and kennedy. both justices asked the questions of the challengers, isn't this a situation where people are already in the market? that really does answer the $64 million question insofar as everybody agrees if these individuals are in the market for health care, then they can be regulated. really, the baseline issue is, can i just minding my own business in my living room be seen as participating in the health care market simply because i haven't had insurance? i think the key issue here is that, yes, i am because if i get sick and i go to the emergency room, by federal statute, they have to take care of me. so by not buying insurance, i'm actually forcing other people to pay my way. so all these analogies are in opposite. >> mike, with your sources there, as you are the supreme

court correspondent there for "the huffington post," do you have an indication of how those justices voted yesterday? >> i don't. i think sources on the supreme court beat are still all about speculation more than plumbing the clerks for inside information. being in the court, i was there watching the oral arguments go down, i'm far less certain that chief justice roberts is in play. i feel like his questions to the challengers of the mandate were more just asking them politely to deal with the opposite side's arguments so they could just shut them down. justice kennedy offered a cryptic question at the very en, very end of the argument, that suggested he might be willing to uphold the mandate. but giving the amount of questions he asked to the government itself, it just to me seemed as though he would really have to just blink and he'd have to get cold feet rather than act

on principle if he were to uphold the mandate in conference yesterday. over the next three months, they're going to be negotiating if justice kennedy ends up voting to strike it down, there could be some in-chambers chats between the more liberal justices trying to pull justice kennedy back to their side. it's not one to be swayed by those kinds of things. but they're going to be trying, i bet. >> to that extent, kenji, how much could influence, how much could lunches, dinners, discussions, late-night discussions, how much could that influence the way he voted yesterday and could there be another vote before june? >> yes, i think what's really important here is if kennedy goes with the liberal justices and i think roberts is actually more likely to go with kennedy in response to the earlier comment about how roberts is not as much in play as kennedy. i think one of the things that's really interesting about this case is that there's a real need to not look partisan here because if you had bush versus

gore, that was a 5-4 vote -- >> so many believe the court is as a result of that very politically inclined. >> exactly. i've had to teach a whole generation of cynics constitutional law. 2010, same 5-4 breakdown. if kennedy goes, then roberts if he's on the fence to tip it towards the sixth. >> mike? >> i was in the court, i was of the mind of what kenji was saying. but i didn't see it. i saw a court totally willing to do what it had to do even if it meant five republicans against four democrats. >> we'll have to have you guys back and talk about it as we get closer to june. mike and kenji, thank you so much. we have the best of office politics from dan rather to game-change co-author john heilemann, we dig into their memories for a glimpse of their careers and more.

♪ >> you were taking a number one "new york times" best-selling book and you're thinking, they're going to make a "game change" movie and what if they mess it up? >> it had a great reputation for doing historic docu-dramas. >> what was it like wearing the waders and -- >> great to see her in her element. there are so many sides of sarah palin. as we see the movie and all the other sides of sarah palin, you've got to acknowledge that there is a really authentic alaska side of her. >> so sarah palin's reaction, was that to be expected? >> we wish she'd see the movie. >> talk about something as being as black as a crow's wing. >> that's the way i grew up talking. so instead of saying, it's hot as hell today, you'd say, it's hot as a lorado parking lot.

>> this is one of the largest african-american sites. >> we're going to talk about my bourgeois existence? >> yes, we must. >> above my desk, this photograph has been above my desk since 1996. st. patrick's day in chicago. the key difference is i have a lot more hair. number two, pat has a driver's cap on. >> i'm interested in this picture. >> he said, we both agree that children should be able to read and write. >> they had a director's chair set up for us. on this side, we have the logo

and on this side, my name. >> these are all warhol drawings. commercialized -- he is so visionary. >> you've got michael jackson. >> this is in '79 -- i would go out on the road and meet james brown, who was like my father. that was me at 7 years old preaching. >> i imagine you and your husband have interesting conversations. i've often said to people, you should know, i would love to be a fly on the wall at their dinner table, just over the dinner table just listening. >> like who's going to wash the dishe dishes? it's your turn, i did it last night. like every other couple. >> as i say to my children, home is all about christmas. >> he's been working with nbc

sports for a long time now. >> do you get to intersect much? >> maybe that's the key. >> try to get a decent night's sleep and occasionally a decent breakfast. >> thank you for allowing me to clean up before you got here. >> not! at this time tomorrow, we'll have more of my best office publics interviews. in today's big three, one-word rules, awkward, like this moment this week when mitt romney received a coveted endorsement. you're watching "weekends with alex witt." [ donovan ] i hit a wall. and i thought "i can't do this,

it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team. is it really worth more? prothe color of gold,education we don't think so. chase sapphire preferred is a card of a different color.

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anne kornblut, morris reid and susan del percio join me now. topic number one, comes during former president george h.w. bush's endorsement of mitt romney. there's an awkward silence when george w. bush is mentioned. we'll play it for everyone. >> i love that picture over there of the two presidents. father and son. >> thank you. >> that's quite a legacy. >> okay, yeah, there was a kind of silence thing -- like where's this going? is this an example of what can go wrong when political theater is understand -- unrehearsed? >> well, sure. on the other hand, you're not going to ask a former president to come up with a list of

talking points and obviously it would be natural for them to be chitchatting about his son. i do find ate little surprising that the father did not know whether the son had endorsed. but bush, sr. had his history of gaffes when he mims was president. what's most interesting about that exchange altogether is the awkwardness around george w. bush and that his name has not come up in this campaign at all, his nor dick cheney's. no one's sought the endorsement of them whatsoever. >> susan, weigh in on that. she was talking about it seemed kind of awkward and this stuff dogged george h.w. bush during his career. should we have been surprised by this? >> not really given that romney's been pegged for being awkward at times, too. to go back to "w's" endorsement or dick cheney's, that's not necessarily the surprised thing in this primary or going forward in the election. i'm not surprised to not hear those names right now at all. >> morris?

>> we'd love to have them out there on the stump for you guys. i thought the president's socks were awkward, myself, those lavender socks were interesting. >> they were kind of good looking. you're right. that was maybe a little awkward. maybe it's a fashion statement. we're going to go to our next topic with the rnc. a new ad is poking fun. here's a clip of that ad. >> for more than 80% of americans, the insurance system provides effective access -- excuse me -- because the -- excuse me. >> okay, this is what i call a

cringer, when you're like, oh, come on, just get there. anne, do you think this is a fair ad? >> i'm no supreme court expert. but our supreme court correspondent at "the washington post" said often the people who are giving arguments before the court both get grilled pretty harshly, which obviously happened to don verrilli. and have moments that don't seem like their finest. we were listening to audio and audio is worse than video because you hear every painful second. you really had to feel for him listening to that. >> absolutely. morris, if the largely conservative supreme court overturns the health care law, could overturning the health care law actually then reenergize democrats? >> i think so. everyone on the democrats -- there's a lot of conspiracy theorists still about the 5-to-4 vote the last time he went before the supreme court. there will be some folks out there rooting for this because it may energize the base.

may not be in the best interest of the country. but that could reenergize the base. but i think president obama is going to have a record to run on and that's going to energize the base. no matter what happens, i think >> do you worry if the law is overturned, could democrats use that ruling as political ammunition against republicans out on the campaign trail? >> no. in fact, i think it can be the opposite way. i think given the attention this has received and the poor way the white house has basically communicated what, in fact, this health care law does or does not do, is that now it's an issue that republicans can run on for the house and the senate. i think they actually just handed over a very good issue to house and senate candidates. >> okay. sit tight. coming up next with the big three, president obama's open mike gaffe. they have names like idle time books and smash records

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back now with our big three

panel and final topic. this week's theme, awkward moments. this week president obama came under fire for comments he made to russian president dmitry medvedev. he told him he would have more flexibility to discuss the missile program after the presidential election. >> your mission is simple, mr. obama. win one last election to gain unchecked flexibility, weaken our defenses and fundamentally transform the world. dmitri will transmit the information. >> starring barack obama as president flexible. dmitry medvedev and vladimir putin as himself. >> we'll go back to our panel. so let's go with you, anne. it seems the president speaking

early here. does this send the wrong message to voters if he appears overconfident, could this hurt him? >> well, i don't know if the overconfidence will hurt him or the idea that he's asking foreign leaders to wait until his re-election for him to do something else. both sides, both supporters and his detractors have for some time been speculating about what he would do in a second term, whether it's gay marriage, middle east peace. this adds another thing for them to wonder about. >> can i also ask you, you've been out on the trail, how does this happen? logistically. you're like, what? >> you'd think they would do a full sweep to look for microphones. in that instance, it did seem he might have thought they weren't near by. i never had the good fortune of picking up on private conversation. i'm still hoping. >> that's the kind of reporter -- then we'd be talking about it with you, of course. morris, what impression did you walk away with after this

exchange? >> you would obviously rather it not happen. i would have surmise it to being poor staff work. this is much ado about nothing. i thought the ad was funny and clever. i don't think this is going to stick. the fact is that all presidents have more flexibility in their second term whether they say it or don't say it, they do. this president is focused on trying to win his second term which is the main mission he needs to be focused on. >> susan, your thoughts? every president this seems to happen, right? >> yeah. even though they will have more flexibility, they typically don't say it. they don't say it regarding foreign policy. that's where the gaffe is. in itself, it's not something that will hurt the president going forward unless there is something else that backs it up come september, october. these mistakes repeated. >> awkward moments with our big three. never awkward with any of you. thank you. that is a wrap of this edition of "weekends with alex

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